Napoleon Bonaparte
How the first emperor of France came to power – and his dramatic downfall
Meet the tactical French leader who led many a revolution
Born on the island of Corsica in 1769, Napoleon Bonaparte was christened Napoleone di Buonaparte, but later changed his name when he married in 1796. He rose from a family of minor nobles on the French island of Corsica to become ruler of much of continental Europe.
Napoleon attended military school in Brienne, France, from 1779 to 1784. After completing courses in Brienne, he attended École Militaire, a more advanced military academy in Paris. He graduated in 1785 and was commissioned as an artillery officer in the French army. The French Revolution, which started in 1789 and led to the beheading of King Louis XVI, created an unstable political environment in which he could use his military prowess to rapidly rise to power.
His ascent began in 1793 when a group loyal to the French monarchy captured the city of Toulon with help from the British. The republican government ordered a military expedition to retake the city, and Napoleon served as one of the operation’s senior leaders, developing a battle plan that led to the city’s recapture. Then, in 1795, he helped lead a military force that put down a rebellion in Paris.
In 1796 Napoleon was appointed commander of French forces in Italy. Within a year his troops had conquered much of Italy and part of Austria. The military success in Italy boosted his reputation in France, which led him to a greater position of power in France’s republican government. In 1798 he led a French military expedition to Egypt, a country controlled by the Ottoman Empire. His expedition succeeded in taking northern Egypt, though Napoleon’s forces were cut off when the British defeated a French fleet at the Battle of the Nile.
While Napoleon’s troops were stranded in Egypt, the situation was deteriorating for the French republic. Austria and Russia went to war with France, joining Britain and the Ottoman Empire, and revolts broke out in France as those still loyal to the monarchy tried to overthrow the government. Taking advantage of the situation, Napoleon left Egypt for France in 1799, leading a military coup that saw him appointed ‘first consul’ of France.
By 1802 he had a remarkable military record: he had put down rebellions in France, reconquered Italy and forced the other countries to sue for peace by defeating their armies on the battlefield. His influence as first consul steadily increased, and in 1804, after a referendum, he was voted in as emperor of France. To keep hold of his newfound power, the nascent emperor made heavy use of censorship to prevent the expression of any opposition.
Over the course of his 15-year rule, Napoleon fought in 60 battles, losing only seven. His final fight came in 1815, when he was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo in what is now Belgium and exiled to Saint Helena, an island in the South Atlantic, far from France. Napoleon lived the last six years of his life on this remote island, dying of gastric cancer in 1821, aged 51.